Iñigo Calderón was disappointed after Bristol Rovers lost 3-0 to Ipswich Town in the third round of the Emirates FA Cup.
The Tractor Boys raced into a three-goal lead before half-time, with Kalvin Phillips, Jack Clarke and Jack Taylor all scoring to put the hosts in a comfortable position.
Ali Al-Hamadi could have made it four for the hosts soon after the break, but he dragged his penalty wide after Grant Ward was penalised for a handball in the box.
Calderón spoke to BRTV about the game, playing Premier League opposition and the progress the team is making.
I am disappointed...
“I’m obviously not happy,” said the head coach. “I am disappointed, especially in the first half. We did not start well enough with or without the ball. You could see it [a goal] was coming, and you cannot stop that. It’s a matter of time until they score, and after that, your life is more difficult.
“At the same time, you have to understand that it is a big difference. That’s why they play where they play, and that’s why we play where we play. So, we knew that it would have to be nearly a perfect game and especially in the first half, we were far from that.”
There has to be a balance...
“For me, in the first half, we could not have the ball,” said Calderón. “When you don’t have the ball, you have to defend for 45 minutes. There has to be a balance. You have to try to attack well so you have better chances to score, and then you defend for less time.
“We learn during the game. The last game was against Cambridge. Today is a totally different game. There is nothing to compare at all, so you cannot guess something from the last game into this one. But we have to adapt quickly, and we have to try to understand the game better.”
You have to do everything right...
“You have to do everything good,” he said. “Especially the way I wanted to play and the way we want to defend. We want to defend high; we want to be aggressive; we want to be proactive; we don’t wait to wait and stay in our half.
“That is not the way I want us to play, but at the same time, you have to do everything right because otherwise, they are going to punish you, and they did.”
I am seeing progress in the team...
“I am seeing progress in the team,” said the Spaniard. “As I say, today is probably not fair to evaluate how we are because the opposition is not going to be near what we face next Saturday. Even being a good team, it’s a big, big difference. I would say it is not fair.
“The process is coming, and the process is going good. I can see that in the training sessions, and I saw that today a couple of times. Especially in the second half, not the first one. It's a matter of time. As I said from the very first day, it’s going to be one week, two weeks, three weeks or four weeks, but we are going to get there.”
We are still in a good situation...
“It’s important we play at home [next], and I think we need the fans now because we are still in a good situation,” he said.
“I think we stopped falling down. I saw that after Leyton Orient, I saw that after Cambridge United, but we are still in a difficult situation, and we have to make sure that everyone realises that because otherwise it will be a problem.”
